In light of the recent terror attacks by Hamas on Israel, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has asked the Biden administration to revoke the visas of students who have endorsed terror activity or provided material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
Marshall sent the request in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. It contained the signatures of 19 other state attorneys general.
“Any foreign national on a student visa who supports or assists terrorist activity is in violation of the law and should have their visas immediately revoked,” Marshall said. “It is a privilege for foreign students to receive sponsored visas. Those who celebrate Hamas and the mass murder of innocent Israeli women and children should lose their access to the privileges and safety that our great country provides.”
Since the Hamas attack on October 7, college campuses across the nation have held pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas protests, leaving many Jewish and Israeli students feeling discriminated against and threatened.
Marshall said one group, Students for Justice in Palestine, which has been linked to both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, issued a “call to action” asking its college chapters to hold demonstrations on campuses across the country.
According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, “[A]ny alien who … endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization” is “ineligible to receive [a] visa and ineligible to be admitted to the United States.” It also says anyone who “knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so” is guilty of a federal crime.
Other states that signed onto the letter include Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
To connect with the story’s author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com.
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